What pops into your mind when you hear the word” tablet?”  Without a second thought, iPad is the thing you first thought of, right?  Well, this explains why Apple has dominated the US tablet market leaving other tablet makers to try their luck and penetrate in the European and Asian markets.   Ever since tablet-mania began, the iPad has been enjoying the throne in spite of the many attempts by other companies to lead the fast-growing niche of the consumer tablet market.

The hottest news right now in the Tablet world is Amazon’s tablet which is expected to arrive this September or October ( announcements has to be made though )and could be a big seller having a potential to sell as many as 5 million units in the fourth quarter according to Forrester Research – and this spells c-o-m-p-e-t-i-t-i-o-n!  It marks Amazon as Apple’s top and most credible competitor.  Compared to Apple’s 30 million iPads since its launching in April last year, this just shows how Amazon will completely rock the boat.

“Thus far, Apple has faced many would-be competitors, but none have gained significant market share,” Epps wrote. “Not only does Amazon have the potential to gain share quickly but its willingness to sell hardware at a loss, as it did with the Kindle, makes Amazon a nasty competitor.”

But how can Amazon actually overtake the iPad and easily sell as many as 5 million units?  In order for them to penetrate the market, the tablet must be priced significantly below the competing products – below $300.   Setting the price lower could easily attract customers, as we saw with HP’s TouchPad making quick bounce back after its price dropped.  Aside from this, Amazon must also make sure that they are able to supply the demand.

Moreover, aside from the price and supply, Epps has advised Amazon to not tell the consumers that they are selling an Android tablet.  This interesting statement by Epps refers how Google has been struggling in the tablet war under the weight of its own brand.

“While some may view a partnership with Google as an asset, we see it as a challenge. Product strategists that we’ve spoken with at OEMs have voiced frustration about the limits of Android — its lack of polish, the terrible shopping experience in the Android Market, the rules that Google has set for Honeycomb use that limit differentiation, and the fragmentation of earlier versions of the OS. Only 9% of consumers considering buying a tablet actively prefer an Android tablet — compared with 16% who prefer iOS and 46% who prefer Windows. Barnes & Noble has chosen to emphasize its own brand and user experience on the Nook Color rather than emphasize the Google or Android brands, even though the Nook is built on Android. Amazon may not wish to go that far on the curation spectrum, but it does need to differentiate its flavor of Android from all the rest, and that may come from emphasizing the Amazon experience over the Google one.”

In terms of Revenue, Apple relies on its hardware, making it vulnerable to Amazon’s marketing and pricing tactics, as is not seeking profit from hardware sales.  Amazon on the other hand has been seen with the potential to be a platform for other OEMs, bringing Amazon’s software and services over Android for a better customer experience.

One of the problems faced by iPad rivals is the availability of applications.  Product strategists and developers have invested more on iPad apps than Android tablet apps.  Apple is said to have around 100,000 custom-built iPad apps compared to fewer than 300 apps for Google’s Honeycomb platform.  However, if Amazon’s Android based tablet can sell that much in a short period of time, Android might then suddenly appear more promising and attractive to some application developers, following a similar shift that took place for Android smartphones.

Whether Apple will maintain the lead or Amazon will be the new leader in the tablet war, what is certain is that market for Tablet PCs is expected to increase over the years and shall continue to sell like hotcakes until 2017.   As forecasted, tablet PC shipments could reach a soaring 250 million inits in the next five years.  Because of this, the war of supremacy is not yet over – as long as the market is still there, opportunity will always be there for those who take the risk.